[THE INVESTOR] LINE Corp. has set the price for its initial public offering at the top of its marketing range to raise up to 132.8 billion yen (US$1.3 billion), the company said in a regulatory filing on July 11 in Tokyo. 


The immensely popular mobile messaging service, owned by Korean Internet giant Naver, will sell 35 million shares at 3,300 yen per share. Another 5.25 million shares also will be sold through a so-called greenshoe option allowing it to increase the amount of stock sold.

The company had initially set the price range at 2,700-3,200 yen last week.

At the IPO price, the company is valued at about US$6.9 billion, to become the biggest stock market tech debut this year.

LINE will begin trading in New York on July 14 and in Tokyo the next day.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)